morningview
5 points
Well you said you'll come back in a year, and then told me cliffs about how you kept coming back. I won't be back in a year. Peace.
June 14, 2015 | 9:20 p.m.
I wasn't saying I didn't like it because it isn't "nice." I was saying I didn't like it because you're kind of just projecting your own poker journey on to me. Just because you keep quitting and coming back, doesn't mean I'm going to do the same. I'm not the same person as you, and to assume everyone has trouble quitting poker isn't correct.
June 14, 2015 | 8:41 p.m.
I don't like this response because it reminds me of this: How we see others is a reflection of how we see ourselves. If you keep quitting and coming back, that's you, not me.
I was attempting to become a good player making a good side income (which may very well be the incorrect approach to this game), but I realized that I am not capable of that. My time would be much better spent working hard on my degree and maybe spending more time on other hobbies like playing guitar and working out, which I used to do a lot more.
Poker isn't some obsession for me, once I see the reality of my situation and make a decision, I stand by it. I work hard and have good discipline in most parts of my life. Poker is only fun if you're a winner or if you can delude yourself into that you are a winner. I am not a winner, therefore I don't care to play a game in which I have a disadvantage, simple as that.
June 14, 2015 | 7:54 p.m.
I don't have a good response, but I just wanted to say this post is really great. You have some very good thoughts and a good way of articulating them.
June 14, 2015 | 4:55 p.m.
Thank you Samu, I know you're one of the most helpful contributors on this forum. I don't mean to be discouraging to everyone, but this is my reality and how I see it.
Maybe a RIO pro can provide some counter arguments.
June 13, 2015 | 4:52 p.m.
So some quick cliffs:
-Started with $1.75
-Ran it up to $120ish playing 2-5nl.
-Constantly read and thought poker over the last month.
-Have played for 5 years, studied on and off for two, won 14bb/100 over 50k hands at 25nl, cashed out 3k on bovada last year, beat 1/2 live (lol)
So, over the last month, I've gotten about halfway through Applications of Holdem by Janda, watched a ton of RIO videos with the elite membership and taken notes, done a ton of range analysis, equity calcs, constantly went over hands on 2p2, reddit, here; constantly thought about hands. I'm down 15 BI at 5nl.
This game is brutal. Sure, I'm running kinda bad and whatever, but this is 5nl. I don't think I'm good at poker, but jesus christ, even 5nl is filled with (probably "bad overall," but still) grinders. Even if I was crushing I'd probably be making like $2 per hour lol. How long until I can move up and make minimum wage? A year? A year of studying my ass off? No thanks, I'm not going to sacrifice my last two years of university studying what I keep hearing is a dying game. Too many people are so far ahead of me that I would get crushed and have to move back down constantly and re-evaluate. There are just so many people that started during the boom and have been playing for 10 years and are sitting at 50-200nl that would eat me alive even if I did move up over the next couple years. I guess my point is, even at my peak potential I'd probably not be making much more than minimum wage in a year or two.
I just don't have the right personality for that honestly. I like progress, I like results, I like being able to know my results are a result of progress. With poker, I never know if I'm running good or bad, or if I just got lucky that a whale sat down but if it was all regs I'd be getting shit on.
I also have a hard time balancing it with life for some reason. I played both Chess and Starcraft at a high level, but with poker it feels like I could play for 24 hours straight. I neglect working out, hanging out with friends a bit. Poker is pretty consuming, at least for me (addictive?).
I'm taking a Math course this summer, and I started realizing I was doing more studying of poker than my University class. Pretty sure that's hugely -roi. Without substantial monetary potential (which IMO, is going to be in a permanent decrease as poker continues to dry up), I don't see how people stick with this game. The news about bots, the constant bad beats, variance, it's just rough. The botting is especially discouraging for me, because I imagine it'll end up like the hacker/cracker race where people race to develop more sophisticated bots while others race to stop it. Where does it end? Technology and botting is only getting stronger, which will only make it more difficult to prove when someone is botting as opposed to a real player playing close to optimal.
I think the dream about making it big in poker is horribly outdated and false. I think the only reason someone should begin playing that isn't already making a substantial income is because they enjoy poker as a game, for what it is (i.e. how many of us would play Call of Duty or something). The amount of time and energy it would take to become a competent player could be used in ways that would be much more profitable or +EV happiness.
This game isn't for me, thanks for those of you that have responded to me during my little journey here, and good luck to those of you that continue playing.
Thanks for reading! Bye everyone.
June 13, 2015 | 4:14 p.m.
I think it's hard to gain back the initiative if I check flop. I think AJs and KJs can call 3 streets, maybe even AQ.
June 12, 2015 | 2:15 p.m.
The minraise was pretty scary, but I think I only lose to JJ (I didn't think QT was in his calling range especially when I raised to 13bb pf). AA and KK would have 4bet (against this villain for sure).
I think I just had that feeling where it felt like an insta muck, but my hand is so strong that I couldn't do it.
June 12, 2015 | 2:14 p.m.
Hero (SB): $9.42 (188.4 bb)
BB: $5.22 (104.4 bb)
UTG: $9.81 (196.2 bb)
MP: $5.50 (110 bb)
CO: $5.66 (113.2 bb)
BTN: $1.99 (39.8 bb)
Preflop: Hero is SB with Kd As
UTG raises to $0.15, MP calls $0.15, 2 folds, Hero raises to $0.65, BB folds, UTG calls $0.50, MP folds
Flop: ($1.50) Kc Ah Js (2 players)
Hero bets $1, UTG raises to $2, Hero calls $1
Turn: ($5.50) 7h (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets $2.61, Hero??
Villain is 23/18 with 14% UTG open and 35% fold to 3b.
June 11, 2015 | 11:51 p.m.
Okay, I was very confident villain would call with AK + any 2p+sets. What made it a fistbump snapshove was that villain had raised the nuts and never slowplayed a hand before this, so I thought J9 and AJ would have been raised OTT
June 7, 2015 | 7:30 p.m.
lol what?
June 7, 2015 | 7:29 p.m.
Okay, I thought so too :)
June 7, 2015 | 7:29 p.m.
Well I started with $1.75 I found in my account on ACR, really aggressive BR management right now. Wanted to grind 2nl up to $50, then begin taking shots at 5nl, move back down at $30. After 5nl make sure i have 20 BI per level.
June 7, 2015 | 7:28 p.m.
Okay, yeah I mean I thought TT and 44 were possible, but villain had raised all nutted hands on any street in my experience, so AJ and J9 only scared me irrationally, but didn't strike me as real possibilities.
June 6, 2015 | 10:14 p.m.
Hero (SB): $15.53 (310.6 bb)
BB: $4.15 (83 bb)
UTG: $5.46 (109.2 bb)
MP: $5.72 (114.4 bb)
CO: $5.12 (102.4 bb)
BTN: $14.59 (291.8 bb)
Preflop: Hero is SB with Qs Qd
UTG folds, MP raises to $0.15, CO folds, BTN calls $0.15, Hero raises to $0.55, BB folds, MP calls $0.40, BTN calls $0.40
Flop: ($1.70) Qh Tc 4s (3 players)
Hero bets $1.32, MP calls $1.32, BTN calls $1.32
Turn: ($5.66) Ks (3 players)
Hero bets $3.76, MP folds, BTN calls $3.76
River: ($13.18) 6d (2 players)
Hero bets $9.90, BTN calls $8.96 and is all-in
Results: $31.10 pot ($1.55 rake)
Final Board: Qh Tc 4s Ks 6d
Hero showed Qs Qd and won $0.00 (-$14.59 net)
BTN showed Ad Jd and won $29.55 ($14.96 net)
I have to move back down to 2nl now haha. Villain is the biggest whale at the table playing 40/32 and calling a lot of 3bets. I know for sure villain isn't folding KT or AK here, 44 is possible as well I think. Feeling pretty terrible even though it's only $30 monetarily, I've worked up my bankroll from $1.75 and I'm back down to only being properly rolled for 2nl :(
June 6, 2015 | 9:53 p.m.
Well, I'm definitely going to write that down. Really poor thinking on my part. Thanks Knox
June 5, 2015 | 1:59 p.m.
Yeah, villain had J9dd haha
June 5, 2015 | 1:51 p.m.
With that line after the PF action I do expected villain to have JJ here some, maybe AKdd or AQdd. I just don't think we're ahead a lot here as the only hands we beat are Jx which I think is somewhat unlikely.
Tough spot, would have probably played it the same with the gut feeling that I should be playing it differently.
June 5, 2015 | 12:07 p.m.
Even if villain folds you make 21.5bb. A lot of time that's better than our equity when we GII vs kings with 100bb stacks. Definitely 4 betting here
June 5, 2015 | 12:04 p.m.
Yeah, I actually just started tightening up at 2nl a lot and I'm allowing the players to tell me what they have and believing them. This villain had Q4 :).
June 5, 2015 | 12:02 p.m.
Yeah honestly villain probably shows up with something random that beats you here. These overshoves are just level 1 thinking players who look at their hand and say:
-I have one of the best hands possible
-I will try to get as much money as possible
June 5, 2015 | noon
I'd fold and wait for a better spot. Raise bigger though. Like Telsa said, that 3bet pf is really transparent.
June 5, 2015 | 11:56 a.m.
[x]Crossed Fingers
[x]Punted off stack
June 5, 2015 | 11:54 a.m.
Yeah this is kind of what I was thinking, thanks for actually putting it in equilab.
I was playing too many tables and kind of auto piloted and decided I didn't want to see villain check AQ or AK behind, so I had to make a quick decision and decided to close my eyes and punt my stack off to J9dd.
Going to start trying to play fewer tables because I think I could have rationally come to this conclusion had I thought for a bit longer.
June 5, 2015 | 11:53 a.m.
WPN, $0.01/$0.02 No Limit Hold'em Cash, 6 Players
Poker Tools Powered By Holdem Manager - The Ultimate Poker Software Suite.
SB: $0.40 (20 bb)
Hero (BB): $2.20 (110 bb)
UTG: $1.97 (98.5 bb)
MP: $4.55 (227.5 bb)
CO: $2.11 (105.5 bb)
BTN: $2.85 (142.5 bb)
Preflop: Hero is BB with Ah Ac
UTG folds, MP raises to $0.06, 3 folds, Hero raises to $0.18, MP calls $0.12
Flop: ($0.37) 3d Ts Qd (2 players)
Hero bets $0.24, MP calls $0.24
Turn: ($0.85) 4s (2 players)
Hero bets $0.56, MP calls $0.56
River: ($1.97) Kd (2 players)
Hero??
I was just hitting the 2/3 button on ACR which I usually do, setting up for a river jam. However, in this particular spot I think sizing up on the turn is necessary. There's two flush draws, and a ton of river cards that I am going to have to check and probably fold.
What would you do in this situation, if you say you would check, would you snap fold to a shove?
I have no idea how to format WPN hands. If there is a better way please let me know.
June 5, 2015 | 4:48 a.m.
I don't see a lot of donk bet folds from 36/12s. I think I would try to get as much money in as quickly as possible before he realizes his 8 or whatever is no good ;p
June 4, 2015 | 10:18 p.m.
I like how you played this hand a lot. I was skeptical about the turn check, but I think a lot of good villains will c/r the turn and you have to fold. The turn and river are the worst runout possible for your exact hand imo. Good fold, wp.
June 4, 2015 | 10:15 p.m.
Maybe something to start incorporating is a plan for the hand instead of just thinking about the flop. Like, say you wanted to get the most value from his AA, KK, and realized that a lot of turns kill your action. Your goal then would be to get as much money in the middle as quickly as possible.
Just something to consider :)
June 4, 2015 | 10:08 p.m.
I think a c/r on the flop is best. You're going to have a ton of semi bluffs/combo draws on this board and overpairs are never folding. Your balance is fine if you're check raising all strong draws and sets here, although I'm not sure if that's really important at 10nl.
As played, I think you can't just lead shove, because if you were thinking about balance OTF, maybe you should think about your leading range OTR (Which is pure value hands).
Well there is a major difference gaucan. In Poker, if you don't stay ahead of the competition, you won't have an income. Even very medicore programmers make an okay living (in US, idk about other places). Poker guarantees nothing. Learning a real skill guarantees you an income, whereas poker can provide an income, but it gets harder everyday.
Of course I'd much rather play poker all day than sit in an office, but wouldn't we all rather play games? For me, it's not realistic.
June 15, 2015 | 5:25 p.m.